I have been watching Kathy Sdao's seminar Cujo Meet Pavlov! and learning a lot. Putting it all together like that, I can see that I have been making some serious mistakes (like I was backward conditioning, oops) and even though I am only halfway through the DVDs I feel as though my toolbox has been re-stocked!

One of the main things is that I need to use the highest reinforcer I can find (I KNEW that, but wasn't doing it and she really drove that home in the seminar), and use it ONLY for the reactivity work. I knew this to an extent as well, but didn't realize how important it is.

So today I bought as much stuff as I could think of to try and build a reinforcement ladder to figure out what would be used for the reactivity work. Believe me, Frodo had a FUN night!

And the winner is... Kong Peanut Butter filler squeeze stuff. Yum. Second in line was TOTW wet food, which I have been using for shaping, which I plan on continuing to do. I realize the Kong stuff might not be the most healthy, but I figure I am willing to use it anyway if it will help him to become less reactive. Other than that, he really only eats TOTW kibble, TOTW wet food, Dogswell Lamb and Rice treats, and Natural Balance roll on occasion. Oh, and soon Primal raw formulas. I don't think that is too shabby...

I have never before met a dog who was so insistent that he could only use one foot. I feel like we have been trying to get him to shake with his right paw for so long, and FINALLY today he offered a beautiful right shake without hesitation...and then got about 1/4 of a big can of Taste of the Wild wet food for it!!

Even when we were about halfway into training it, he was still so dysfunctional with his right paw, like he had to concentrate *really* hard in order to use it instead of his left. It was funny, but frustrating too.

Now the only trick we need in order to catch up is backing up. You would think this would be easy to lure...not with Frodo...

I've been toying with the idea of putting Frodo on a raw diet...again. When he was younger I had him on raw and was doing everything myself. With that plus school plus work plus a budget it got to be too much to handle, so although he was doing well, we stopped.

I've been looking at Primal with some interest. I know I don't want to do it all on my own, not to start. I feel out of practice :p

I also like Primal because I feel as though I will still be able to use the meat for training, unlike a chicken drumstick, and it probably wouldn't be all that much more messy than rewarding canned food by hand -.-

I also have to decide if I want to pay in insane shipping cost (not to mention the cost of some of their products already!!) as I haven't found a store here that will carry them with any reliable consistency.

In other news I've decided with 99% certainty that I don't want another dog or puppy. I don't think I'm ready (Frodo still needs so much work) and I don't think Frodo is ready. I know he could acclimate to a new dog in the house, but I don't know how much stress it would cause him. I also like to be lazy, and was thinking about all the housetraining and the needing to go out in the middle of the night, and the socialization, etc. I think I may be cured. I hope I'm cured.

I was given the chance to foster a pit/chow mix this week, and at first I was jumping at the chance, but given time for it to settle in I got my brains back and was *so* nervous about the situation that I know I can't be ready if I am THAT nervous about the whole thing. So no new animals in this house for QUITE a while. I'm crossing my fingers that this attitude continues!

In still other news, with all of the reading/watching/learning I have been doing, and the stress of figuring out my future, I haven't been working on Frodo's tricks all that much. *facepalm*

We are going to end up falling behind again, which will only cause me more stress!

My trainer Silke has allowed me access to her book and DVD/CD library while I am studying and learning and hopefully eventually taking the test to become CPDT certified. She sent me a file of all the resources she has. It is, not even kidding, 8 pages of probably 8 point font :o

It's not all training/behavior related, she has everything from TTouch, nutrition, wolves, cats, performance issues, etc.

I want to keep track of what I am reading and watching, and if it's on the blog I will know where to find it! I also plan on taking notes on everything. Like I said previously, I am treating this the same as I would taking classes in college.

I went into the search telling myself that I was going to focus first on body language and behavior, because if I can't communicate with a dog and understand what they are saying, how am I supposed to help them? Then of course I started looking through the list and anything with the word aggression in it caught my eye and mysteriously ended up on the list! Then I nabbed a few shelter dog ones as I am planning on starting to volunteer at a shelter as soon as I find one that I think I can do some real work and make a difference in, so that type of information would be handy too!

I think I am most looking forward to the 3 volume Lindsay books as they look and seem to read like textbooks, and I have a strange obsession with textbooks! They seem difficult but Silke didn't seem to think that they would be over my head.

Can't wait to get started!!

Also, since my last post I have decided that this house is not going to be adding another canine member anytime soon!

Ryan and I had a serious talk the other night and based on the way our apartment search had been going we decided that the most unemotional and logical decision for our financial future would be for us to not get an apartment right now.

Which means I am taking a break from college a semester early and going back to a 1,100 mile long-distance relationship. We've done it for a year already before so I'm not worried about not making it but ugh, I don't want to :(

I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of this. I get to work with Silke more. I get to watch the puppies at the doggy daycare grow up. I don't have to worry constantly about money issues. I get to pay off my car and school loans.

Because I won't be going to school and I *need* to keep myself super busy, I've decided to start working toward a CPDT certification. I had a nice long chat with Silke last night about it and she is going to help me out. I am going to start contacting shelters in the area to volunteer and work on training the dogs for experience. Silke is giving me access to all of the books/DVDs/etc that she has (and she has a lot!) to start learning more. She is also going to start allowing me to teach portions of her classes that I have been sitting in on. When she has private consults for aggression and other behavioral problems she said she would let me know so I could be involved with those as well. She gave me names/contact info for other trainers in the area that she thinks would let me help out with their classes. I am also signing up for a 5 day Sue Sternberg seminar for next May.

I realize that I am nowhere near the point of being a trainer. I think that's obvious. But everybody has to start somewhere and it's something I really *want* to do. We shall see...

As far as Frodo goes, I brought up yesterday while talking to Silke that I want to get Frodo in some sort of class now that we are staying and I can go to a class for the whole duration of the class. She said she has one person interested in a tricks class, she herself wanted to take one of her dogs to the tricks class and our friend Sue was interested in the tricks class. Both Sue and Silke have reactive dogs so it would only be the four of us in the class. I hope it works out as I think it would be really fun and laid back. She also mentioned having a set time every week where we get together with the dogs and work on something, whether it be rally, tricks, K-9 Nosework, etc.

And last but not least, this has given me the most horrible puppy/dog fever ever. I think part of it is because I want a dog that I can take to daycare with me now that I know I will still be working there. Another part of me wants one because I figure I can have it trained by the time I move to MN and won't have to worry about getting a dog that gets us kicked out of an apartment. Somebody needs to talk me out of this decision...

For the trick challenge coming up I have been putting a lot of work into teaching spin and pivot to heel. I am luring the spin because I thought it would be easier. I am (trying to) shape the pivot to heel because I want to work on my shaping skills.

I prefer shaping, but I feel as though I am better at luring. I find that when I shape I tend to get stuck in a rut, give up, and just fall back into luring the behavior. One reason why I think that I am better/more confident in luring is because that was how I was initially taught to train, along with choke chains and god forbid you bring a clicker to class! But I *want* to be a better shaper than I am lurer (is that a word?) because I like the idea of the dog figuring the whole thing out himself.

I think it does depend on the dog, which method works better. Frodo learns a new behavior faster through luring than shaping because he isn't great at offering behaviors (something that we are trying to work on) and because he will follow the smallest morsel of food off of a cliff!

Anyway, I was just wondering what method (or even additional methods) the people who are reading my blog prefer, are better at, etc. What your dog(s) learn better/quicker with, how long you have been working with them on particular methods, etc. Basically whatever you have to say on the subject I would be interested in hearing...

Recently, by which I mean increasingly over the last few weeks, Frodo has decided that he needs to be right on top of me and very pushy in trying to get my attention. When I am on the couch on my computer he will jump up next to me and push his head under my arm/hand, lay his head on my hands, or just move right into my space and make it impossible to type. If I ignore the behavior he just seems to get worse, trying harder to get me to pet him and he will sit and bark at me. If I give in and pet him he will lay down and that's the end of that...until I stop. Then he starts all over again. It's annoying, it's rude, and I would really like it to stop.

I know I need to ignore it or not let him on the couch at all, etc. but I don't want him to think I don't love him! I know, I KNOW! That's not how it works, that's not how dogs think. I know that is exactly what I would tell people if they came to me with this problem, but I can't help it!

Maybe I feel guilty about working so many hours or about not having Izzy as a playmate for him anymore, regardless I am letting him get away with a behavior that drives me insane.

Right now he is working on a stuffed kong because I don't want to have to tell him not to be pushy for attention. I've also started working at the table instead of on the couch to avoid the situation. I need to be more firm and consistent with him, but even as I type this I know that I will give in when he looks at me and leans into me when I try to push him away! Erg.

In other news, he isn't only becoming pushy with me. He is becoming pushy and guardy with Mollie as well. Since I brought him home I have spent some time having Mollie sit next to me and feed both of them by hand, with Frodo only getting his kibbles when he is relaxed and not right up against me straining to get the kibble so Mollie doesn't. And it's been going pretty well.

Recently though, I have been using higher value treats for shaping games and if she wanders over to see what is going on he will growl and rush her. He doesn't make contact, but even what he is doing right now is unacceptable.

So, I've been thinking a lot since Frodo and I started the Positive Clicks 2010 trick challenges and since Frodo and I attended our first dog class (if I wasn't so lazy and had a faster computer I would link to the original blog post, but alas I am lazy. The title was something regarding 1 day, 2 big events, if anyone is interested), and I've come to a conclusion. I WANT to do something with Frodo. Not something that I do completely at home and by myself, but something that involves going to classes and being around other people and offers the chance of competition!

Before I thought that I would be fine with just doing whatever at home, messing around and teaching some cool tricks, but now I've got the itch. And because I know that I won't have another dog for a few more years, Frodo needs to help me scratch that itch. Frodo and I have started seriously working on free shaping instead of me giving up and just luring, and I am having a lot of fun with it. Right now I am free shaping a pivot to heel and I am learning a lot about how to free shape in ways that help him to progress and understand. Doing the trick challenges have really been forcing me to work with Frodo and really focus on how he learns and how to help him learn.

So anywho, the bottom line is that I want to be in class. Even if we can't ever compete, I want to take classes, I want to be involved and learning. But I am scared of approaching trainers and asking about bringing a reactive (if well managed) dog into their class. I worry that I will end up being too much of a distraction to other students if he has a reaction, or making other students angry by bringing him to class. Part of me thinks I should definitely sign him up, especially after taking him to one of Silke's classes and having no reactions (well, we had outside ones, but that was due to movement and dogs playing rough), but the other part is scared that I am getting in over my head.

Any owners of reactive dogs have advice/suggestions/words of wisdom to share on this front?

PS: If any of this is jumbled, I blame it on my 10.5 hour crazy shift today and too much caffeine!

Frodo has suddenly decided that he needs to door dart. He used to do this when he was an adolescent, but he is almost five years old and now is deciding to start up again. He has tried it 3 times over the past two weeks.

The first time it caught me completely by surprise and I didn't even have time to react. I called him quickly from the porch and he ignored me and continued to sniff the neighbor's grass. I knew chasing him would cause him to run so I grabbed a hot dog out of the fridge and before I was halfway out the door I called his name and he was happy to come running back. I gave him to whole hot dog, though I seriously contemplated flogging him to death with it!

The second time was later that same day and he didn't even make it to the door because I was still on edge from the first attempt.

The third time was two or three days ago. Now, I don't generally use corrections at all with Frodo. He's quite a soft dog and corrections would get us nowhere. Well, the other day when I was heading out the door to work with phone and lunch in my hands, he decided to try this newfound trick again. I was quick enough to pin him against the doorframe with my leg and bellow a furious "NO!" at him. He flew backwards and hasn't tried door darting since. I'm hoping that sudden correction scared him out of trying again. I really do, because right outside of my front door is a road that can be quite busy and people drive fast, so it's as much a matter of safety as it is a bad habit.

There's now a rule that he must sit and wait for me to walk through the door, in or out, before he is allowed to go through. I know this is general manners in most houses, but he's not had an issue like this in YEARS, so I've never had a problem with him going before me when he's attached to his leash.

In other news, we are now moving on to a new set of tricks for Week Three of the Positive Clicks 2010 blog.

This week the tricks are:

1. Spin (either a left or right full circle)2. Catch (a toy/treat in air)3. Place (dog circles around to get into heel position on left side)4. Kisses (on lips/face... or lips/face of another person)

1. I am luring spin because although I think it would be a good way to work on shaping, there is enough tricks this week that I need to move at a decent pace and Frodo and I aren't the best pair at shaping. I would also like to teach him both a left and a right circle.

2. He can already catch, so I don't have to do anything for that except tape it.

3. This I would like to spend the most time on and shape the behavior. I want to use the method that I have seen many videos on recently, where the dog puts it's paws on some type of circular container placed at the front position, and is shaped to pivot to a heel position. We shall see how this progresses.

4. Frodo doesn't do this on his own, but I bet with the help of some peanut butter we can get this one down quickly!

I would really really like to, for the first week, get all the tricks taped and up on the blog. I still need to backtrack and do some work for weeks 1 and 2, both teaching and taping. It is stressing me out that I am not caught up. This is just like college!

Go to Mat - It is over 100 degrees out today and the mat was in the car. He knows it, but it didn't make it to the deadline video.

Crawl...

I still need to fade the luring, give it a name/hand signal, and add distance. We didn't get as far as I would have liked, but Frodo kept doing his "play dead" trick every time I tried to teach it to him, so we spent quite a while just working on keeping him upright!

I really need to put more time into training if I am going to keep up with the Positive Clicks every week, I am already behind!

Frodo is seeming a lot more relaxed from the start of these meetings. There were three new dogs there today and he took it all in stride. He still seems very interested in going up to a Sheltie that is there, he tends to try and go up to him from behind, and I think he feels safer in that position. His body language around the dog is loose and positive, though he does tend to get a little more tense when actively trying to reach the Sheltie, though that may be because I am usually trying to slow him down and he is trying to speed up!

For a good portion of the walk today Frodo and I walked next to the Sheltie, who is pretty calm and very quiet (not what I am used to seeing in the breed! haha), and for some of it the dogs were on the inside and the owners on the outside (nothing between them) and they were probably only 2-3 feet away from each other. One of the new dogs, a husky, was right in front of Frodo during this time (myself and the other two owners were having a conversation) and he didn't show signs of being stressed, his body language was loose, he was fine taking treats, etc.

He would glance over at the Sheltie, or even turn his head for a quick moment and stare at the Sheltie, but then it was right back to looking at me for a treat!

I was very, very, very impressed with him through that!

Once the path opened up I moved up next to the husky (increasing the distance as well), and the husky stared at Frodo which made him growl a bit. The owner of the husky acknowledged that it was her dog's fault for staring and apologized, but I feel as though we are not always going to meet perfectly dog savvy dogs on walks, so I would rather learn what sets Frodo off in this kind of environment and work to correct it. I need to learn to watch the other dog as much as I watch what my dog is doing, and I think I should have asked for Frodo's attention when the other dog started staring, though it is such a short time!

I do think that I will continue trying to walk more with people who have non-reactive dogs than the people who are working with their reactive dogs. Though there is rarely a reaction in the group, I think that the non-reactive dogs may be calmer, even if it's not visible to us humans!

Overall it was another great morning for Frodo and I. We went swimming afterwards but Frodo wasn't nearly as amused as last week, the water was pretty chilly!

Now I still need to teach Frodo the rest of Crawl and attempt Back Up before tomorrow, the deadline for this weeks Positive Clicks challenge!

First, let's look at how (awful) we did with sticking to June's training goals...

-Protocol for Relaxation: I need to work on this every day, if I can ever figure out exactly how to go about it! (Yeah. Haven't done it, need to do it. He is in the habit now of getting bored and walking away. I need to charge the mat and make it a big deal. Meh)

-LAT game: Per Crystal's suggestion I need to start using this with Frodo (We do a combination of this and focusing on me around stuff that he reacts to. A lot of times when I try to use it, he just completely ignores the dog/child/whatever and focuses in me, and I don't feel like I should NOT reward that focus)

-LLW: Over the last few days I have been upping the criteria while out on walks. Now when he pulls I stop. I was letting him get away with pulling towards trees, bushes, etc. but now I stop dead and stay that way until he reorients to me and gives me a loose leash. Sometimes he will look at me and loosen the leash, then as soon as I take a step he tries to pull again. So again we stop and wait for him to loosen the leash and stick with me. It's been going really really well, I am super proud with his progress. It also allows us to work closer to things that he wants to sniff. Onward and upward on this front! (He is doing well with this! I don't think I will ever get him to cease sniffing, but he tends to sniff and keep moving, not holding up the walk as often as he used to.)

-Getting out and about: This isn't something that is going to start tomorrow or next week. I still feel like I have no control when he sees a dog or has a reaction, so I don't want to add my nervousness to the mix by taking him out of my comfort zone just yet. By the end of June though I hope to be able to do things like take him out to dinner or something like that. I can practice at Panera Bread (where I work) because I have room to get away from his triggers (I can go behind the building and I know people aren't going to follow or be) and it is also a place where I am comfortable. There does tend to be a few dogs there because it is off the highway and people travel during the summer, but I've noticed the dogs are usually under control and behaving more than I see in my town. (We have been doing this. I've been taking him to the ATM, I took him up town once, we've been going swimming at doggy daycare. Still want to expand on this, but we haven't been doing terrible.)

-Mat Work: I think I am going to start mat work again, but I may go about it differently. I think I am going to teach him to go to his mat and stay there, and then reinforce the calming signals he gives while on the mat, instead of the other way around. I believe that a better trainer would have more success the old way, but I feel that the new way is going to be less frustrating for me. (Pretty much intertwined with the Protocol for Relaxation)

-Fetch: I need to get out the Cuz and work more on teaching him to fetch. I want a fetching dog pretty bad, plus it would be a great way for him to get exercise in the cold MN winter! (Haven't worked on it at all, bad dog mom!)

-Nails: Another hard one that I really need to buckle down and work on. I really want to be able to clip/dremel his nails without too much of a problem and without him fighting it. My goal is to be able to handle his feet and touch the nail with clippers or dremel by mid-June. (Complete fail. This is something I really want to be able to do, but he hates it and I tend to find way more fun things to work with him on. Right now he is wearing down his nails a lot on the cement and sidewalks, but that will change come winter!)

-Focus/Attention work: Same as last month. I want to actually find some type of program or something though, I tend to do much better and stay focused myself when I can do something like this. I know there was a program I started with my other dog. It was a levels program and I believe the author had llamas and schnauzers or PWDs. The background was purple or blue I think. :p (Another fail. Just haven't done it. I would say that all the behavior mod with his reactivity has in itself helped with his focus, but I haven't intentionally worked on it.)

-Getting Frodo more interested in training/making me click: Again, the same as last month. (Same. Again. Fail.)

Now on to July's goals (the last month we have before moving!):

-Taking Frodo more places

-Protocol for Relaxation/Mat Work

-Positive Clicks 2010 - This is a blog run by someone I know, and they post a few tricks each week to teach your dog. So far I didn't send in a video for the first week (also didn't teach Frodo to shake with his right paw, though he knows his left), and the second video is due today. The tricks for this week were back up (doesn't know it), Go to Crate (going to use his mat), and Crawl (we are working on it!). I want to try and make up the ones I have missed as well as trying to keep up with the new tricks, which means a lot of time will be spent on this! I think it will really help Frodo and I to learn how to work with each other.

-K9 Nosework - This is something that my trainer mentioned to me for Frodo as a constructive way to channel his sniffing obsession. There are no classes or anything around here, but I have instructions on how to do it, so I am going to start working on this at home.

I am going to leave those loosely as my training goals for July. There is less than in previous months, but then again I haven't previously been making my goals either. Plus I do things with him beyond what is posted here (like swimming every week, hiking, etc.), and there are only so many hours in a day!

Frodology101

About

A training blog about the trials (not the fun kind!) and tribulations of trying to get my 4 year old insecure, reactive, ill-mannered, thick-skulled Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Frodo, ready to move from rural Pennsylvania to the city of Minneapolis in the span of a summer. Grab a seat and sharpen a pencil, class is in session!